The New Tv Season: Thursday

September 21, 2003|TOM JICHA

The O.C.

9 p.m. Fox

Premise: Ryan Atwood committed grand larceny and wound up winning the grand prize. His public defender, Sandy Cohen, took a fatherly interest in him and brought him home to his posh oceanside home in Orange County. Ryan immediately connected with Sandy's bookish son Seth, as much an outsider to the cool kids as Ryan is. The heartbreaker next door, Marissa, finds Ryan pretty neat, too. However, her future in the upscale community is problematic, since her father faces federal money-manipulation charges. Sandy's wife, Kirsten, whose family money funds the lavish lifestyle, had initial reservations toward Ryan but has come around.

Prognosis: The O.C.'s fate has seemingly been determined. An early starter, it has already established itself as a hit. The only thing that could change this is if Fox goes ahead with its original blueprint to move the series opposite the NBC and CBS Thursday juggernauts.

Premise: There are a lot of strange and fascinating people out there, performing all sorts of weird stunts. King of Comedy/sitcom star/radio host Steve Harvey gives them a shot at the Big Time -- a national stage -- and humorously chats them up about whatever it is that sets them apart from the crowd.

Players: Steve Harvey is the only regular.

Prognosis: Big Time is at least different. Some viewers will find it evocative of oldies like Real People and That's Incredible but there's nothing else like it in prime time now. Unfortunately, airing opposite Friends and Survivor is a Big Time-period hurdle to overcome.

Premise: An elite team, headed by former husband and wife John Kilmer and Frankie Ellroy-Kilmer, has virtual carte blanche to thwart terrorists intent on attacks against America. John specializes in technical skills, explosives and weaponry. Frankie is a crack interrogator and profiler. They answer only to the president through their liaison, the no-nonsense Col. Roger Atkins.

Players: James Denton, Kelly Rutherford, Will Lyman.

Prognosis: With Friends and Survivor monopolizing the audience, it will take more than the word Matrix in the title to draw enough viewers to keep the show on the air. There'll be an inexpensive reality show in the time period by midseason.

Premiere: 8 p.m. Sept. 18 on WPLG-Ch. 10, WPBF-Ch. 25.

Coupling

9:30 p.m. NBC

Premise: The Brits, envious of Friends, created Coupling as their raunchier answer. With Friends on its way out the door, what goes around comes around as NBC imports and Americanizes Coupling to fortify its strongest night. There are six regulars who frequent the same club. Susan just broke up with Patrick and is taking up with Steve, who's trying to dump Jane, only she won't take no for an answer. Patrick is rebounding with Susan's best friend Sally. Jeff used to date Susan -- well, they had a disastrous one-nighter -- but since then, it hasn't been his day, his week or even his year.

Prognosis: NBC has to tone down some of the racier elements of the original pilot, which is a direct lift from the British version. There's nothing here fans of NBC's Must See comedies won't like, so this could be the network's first bona fide sitcom hit since Will & Grace.

Premiere: 9:30 p.m. Sept. 25 on WTVJ-Ch. 6, WPTV-Ch. 5

Tru Calling

8 p.m. Fox

Premise: A little Groundhog Day, a little Early Edition, a little Dead Like Me. Tru Davies, an aspiring doctor, takes a night job in a morgue. On her first shift, the corpses of the freshly murdered start talking to her. Next morning, she realizes she has been propelled back in time so that she can relive the previous day and perhaps save the deceased from meeting their fate.

Prognosis: It's sinful that no one could find a better use for Dushku's talent than this morbid mess. Tru Calling is DOA, if it arrives at all. Fox has a history of not getting promised fall shows on the air. If ever a series deserves that fate, this is it. If it does premiere, it will be gone within two weeks.

Premiere: 8 p.m. Oct. 30 on WSVN-Ch. 7, WFLX-Ch. 29

Run of the House

9:30 p.m. WB

Premise: Mom and Dad are away and the kids are ready to play. Twentysomethings Chris, Kurt and Sally Franklin are left in charge of 15-year-old Brooke when their parents move from Michigan to Arizona for health reasons. Problem is, Brooke might be more mature and responsible than her older siblings. As an insurance policy, their folks commissioned nosy, meddling next-door neighbor Mrs. Norris to keep an eye on all of them.